The biggest sales day in the 26-year history of the legendary Hopleaf bar wasn’t an anniversary party or a rare beer release.

It was Jan. 20, 2017 — the day of Donald Trump’s unlikely inauguration.

Despairing over the ascendance of someone he thought unqualified for the presidency, Hopleaf owner Michael Roper took to Facebook to declare his bar a “Trump-free zone” on Inauguration Day. Not only would Trump’s inauguration not be aired — Hopleaf has no televisions — Roper also would donate 10 percent of the day’s sales to Planned Parenthood, a frequent GOP target.

A flood of sympathizers filled Roper’s Andersonville bar, resulting in Hopleaf’s busiest day since opening in 1992 — more than $7,000 ahead of the second best. A few negative responses sprouted amid Hopleaf’s online reviews, and a handful of customers said they wouldn’t return.

But Roper had no regrets.

Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune

“It’s kind of hard to stand aside right now and not speak out," says Mike Roper, photographed in his Hopleaf bar in 2012. “The coal industry isn’t making a secret that they love Donald Trump. There’s no reason why we can’t be outspoken as well.”

“It’s kind of hard to stand aside right now and not speak out," says Mike Roper, photographed in his Hopleaf bar in 2012. “The coal industry isn’t making a secret that they love Donald Trump. There’s no reason why we can’t be outspoken as well.” (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

“This business is an extension of me,” Roper said. “I created it myself. It’s like my house — I invite people in — and it’s a little disingenuous to completely wall off your beliefs and separate your business world from your personal life.”

In the Trump era, more than a few Chicago bar and brewery owners have worn their left-leaning politics on their sleeves. With an openness unseen in most corners of the hospitality industry, bars and breweries have openly worked on behalf of immigrant rights, gay and lesbian equality, transgender rights and even that third rail of politics, abortion.

The latest effort is among the broadest: seven Chicago-area breweries banding together to support an American Civil Liberties Union voting-rights initiative called People Power. While voting rights might not seem to be a partisan issue, it is; according to the People Power website, the effort is a response to “an ongoing assault on voting rights” from “the Trump administration and its allies.”

Chicago-area breweries Alarmist, Burnt City, Hopewell, Metal Monkey, Middle Brow, Sketchbook and Werk Force have all brewed beers named People Power that will be available through Election Day, Nov. 6. Ten percent of sales go to the People Power campaign.

Five of the breweries — Hopewell, Middle Brow, Sketchbook, Werk Force and Metal Monkey — will tap their People Power beers 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Links Taproom in Wicker Park (1559 N. Milwaukee Ave.). The breweries will contribute merchandise, bottles of beer and tours to a silent auction also benefiting the ACLU. They are among 75 breweries in 31 states that have joined the project.

In a legendary moment of political neutrality, Michael Jordan was famously quoted in the 1990s as saying, “Republicans buy shoes too” to explain his reluctance to become involved in politics. Republicans also buy beer, but you’d hardly know it in Chicago.

Spiteful Brewing

Spiteful Brewing in 2016 released a beer called Dumb Donald that positioned the then Republican presidential nominee as a symbol for ignorance and hate.

Spiteful Brewing in 2016 released a beer called Dumb Donald that positioned the then Republican presidential nominee as a symbol for ignorance and hate. (Spiteful Brewing)

And then there is Hopleaf, where Roper has long waded into left-leaning politics, including taping up a poster of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in the days before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. But now, he said, things feels a bit more urgent.

“It’s kind of hard to stand aside right now and not speak out,” he said. “The coal industry isn’t making a secret that they love Donald Trump. There’s no reason why we can’t be outspoken as well.”

But there’s an obvious reason that most businesses, especially in the hospitality industry, doggedly avoid talking politics: It can be bad for business. Chicago, however, is insulated by a fairly left-leaning base (Hillary Clinton won 84 percent of the vote in 2016; Trump garnered a mere 12 percent), and bars and breweries exist in a separate ether from most other corners of the industry.

No one expects much point of view from their tacos or doughnuts, and certainly not a white tablecloth restaurant. But within the heavily bearded-and-tattooed and often iconoclastic craft beer industry, things are a bit different.

“When you work in a brewery, you get to be yourself and say what’s on your mind maybe more than most industries,” said Ben Saller, co-founder and co-head brewer at Burnt City Brewing, which was first in Chicago to join the People Power project. Burnt City has previously supported causes ranging from hurricane relief to abortion access.

“Brewers like expressing their personality in a slightly more forceful way than most people. It’s part of the personality type,” Saller said.

And if some business is lost while wading into politics?

“These causes are more important to us than having every single customer that we possibly could,” he said.

Since its late July release, People Power has become one of Hopewell Brewing’s biggest sellers. The Logan Square brewery has previously hosted fundraisers on behalf of transgender rights, immigrant rights and gender equality.

E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Hopewell Brewing's version of People Power is a dry-hopped wheat ale.

Hopewell Brewing's version of People Power is a dry-hopped wheat ale. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

“We’re fortunate because of where we are and who comes out and supports us — we just don’t shy away from the things we believe in,” said Samantha Lee, a Korean-American woman who is one of three Hopewell owners. “As a woman of color in an industry where there aren’t a lot of women of color, it’s something I feel particularly strong about.”

In an industry that mostly — though certainly not entirely — leans left, the political phenomenon is hardly restricted to Chicago. The People Power project originated with Threes Brewing in Brooklyn and has been adopted so far by 75 breweries in 31 states. Each brewery is making its own version of a People Power beer — it can be any style, and served in any package and with any label. The commonality is the name and 10 percent of sales going to the ACLU.

Josh Stylman, co-founder of Threes Brewing, already had a history with the ACLU when launching the People Power beer project. In addition to being a member of the organization, his brewery released a beer on the day of Trump’s inauguration benefiting the ACLU. It was one of several installments of what Stylman called “activism beers — for lack of a better term.”

Threes has backed environmental causes, human rights initiatives and even made a beer called Gender Neutral, with proceeds going to gender equality and LGBTQ rights organizations. Gender Neutral, which caught the attention of Fox News, was dismissed by one pundit as “a cornucopia of hipster liberalism” and tabbed by another as “everything I dislike in the whole world summed up in a single 12-ounce can.”

Threes wears Fox News’ disdain “as a badge of honor,” Stylman said.

“We’ve been asked by various reporters and other folks if were afraid of alienating our customer base,” Stylman said. “It’s not a concern at all. If you’re not aligned with (the interests of) people, you’re not aligned on the right side of human history.”

Soon after Stylman decided Threes should make a beer benefiting the People Power project, he asked 10 or so brewery founders in New York and across the country to join him. From there, it spread and continues to do so by the week.

“We know not every brewery feels the way we do about particular issues,” he said. “But we’re clearly not alone in this.”

Mikkeller

Mikkeller Brewing in New York is among 75 breweries that have joined the People Power project to support the ACLU's voting-rights initiative.

Mikkeller Brewing in New York is among 75 breweries that have joined the People Power project to support the ACLU's voting-rights initiative. (Mikkeller)

It would have been logistically difficult for each brewery to make the same type of beer for People Power, which leaves symbolic power in each brewery making its own version. Threes’ is a pilsner. Hopewell’s is a dry-hopped wheat ale. Burnt City’s is a hazy IPA.

“The common denominator is the name, but like any art, we think this will breed a tapestry of different flavors,” Stylman said. “Creation comes in many different shapes and flavors — just like people.”

The outpouring of politics in beer has tended to flow from one direction, however: the left. Boston Beer founder Jim Koch found out in recent weeks about the perils of becoming aligned with conservative politics. During a dinner with Trump, Koch reportedly expressed support for the tax cuts enacted this year by the GOP. The result was a boycott that included even the mayor of a Boston suburb.

Though the craft beer industry tilts progressive, it is hardly a monolith. There would also seem to be an equal opportunity for conservative-leaning brewery owners to work on behalf of the causes they hold dear. Many of the five owners of Pollyanna Brewing in suburban Lemont fall along more conservative lines.

The majority owner, Paul Ciciora worked in sales for Graybar, a Fortune 500 company, and welcomed the tax cuts passed earlier this year. He was raised Catholic on Chicago’s South Side and embraces those teachings; he’s personally opposed to both abortion and the death penalty. (“Life is life,” he said.)

He and his partners deliberately try to steer Pollyanna away from politics — especially their own in an industry they see as dominated by the other end of the political spectrum.

“We make a conscious effort not to go down that road,” Ciciora said. “We’re not in the business of (ticking) people off. We’re in the business of building a brand.”

That said, he would be open to hosting an event for transgender rights. Two years ago, his son, who was born female, came out as transgender.

Pollyanna is in the conservative-leaning Southwest suburbs. What if a customer was turned off by the local brewery working on behalf of transgender rights?

When it comes to resolutions, "save money" or "spend less" top many people's list. In that vein, for the month of January, the Chicago Tribune Food & Dining team is scouring the city for food deals — from happy hour or lunch specials to high-quality values, like three-courses for a steal — to help you spend smarter. Who doesn't love a good bargain?